Social Media

With the global COVID-19 shutdowns set to significantly impact Q2 2020 reports, Q1 may be the best true indicator we have for some time as to where the major social platforms are placed, and how their growth plans are actually panning out in a normal operating environment. On that front, Snapchat, and parent company Snap Inc., would appear to be on the right track, maybe not for transcendent growth, but for stable, steady increases that look set to solidify its position within the social media space. First off, on active users – Snapchat posted an increase of 11 million DAU on its last report to 229 million – which represents a 20% jump in active users year-over-year.

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LinkedIn to Let Users Add Polls to Posts

LinkedIn has been spotted working on a feature that will allow users to easily add a poll to any post. The feature was uncovered by Jane Manchun Wong, an expert at finding unreleased features by reverse engineering apps.

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Social Media Platforms Step Up To Aid Older People Struggling With COVID-19

The distancing and quarantine procedures that are now familiar to the world due to COVID-19 can be easier for younger generations to accept. Whether it’s millennials or Generation Z, millions of those under 50 grew up with computers, cellphones and tablets tuned to social media and inviting personal and professional connections over long distances. Recent forced isolations can be easier if you’re already accustomed to reaching out to other humans virtually. Unfortunately, older individuals who grew up in a world in which social interaction meant going outside and mixing with human beings face to face can struggle with finding contacts and other resources in the age of mandatory social media. In some spots, special services stepped forward to serve the senior set.

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Snapchat Offers Glimpse of Social Media Advertising Prospects in the Pandemic

Snapchat reported its advertising revenue hit $462 million in the first quarter—a 44 percent year-over-year increase that impressed Wall Street—and the company gave a sense of how advertising is still growing, even if at a slower rate, through the coronavirus pandemic. “We’re really pleased that the business has continued to grow under these conditions,” said Derek Andersen, Snapchat’s chief financial officer, in an earnings call with Wall Street analysts on Tuesday.

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Marketing

Why SEOs Should Start Measuring Search Visibility Instead of Ranking

What is the O in SEO for? Optimization, of course! But what does an SEO professional optimize? For much of the history of SEO, it’s been for ranking positions for important keywords. It isn’t hard to understand why. When Google created it’s first search results page with its characteristic “10 blue links,” it automatically created a hierarchy of click probability. SEO pros quickly noticed that people tended to click on the #1 position the most, and the number of clicks went down sharply from there.

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Google Makes it Free to Sell Products in Search Results

It will soon be free for merchants to list products in the Google Shopping tab in search results. SEOs and site owners focusing primarily on organic search can, for the first time, add Google Shopping to their toolkit. Before the end of the month, this change will take effect in US search results with plans to expand globally by the end of the year.

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How Ecommerce Companies Can Do More with Less Shopping Ad Budget in 2020

Are you running Google Ads campaigns for your ecommerce store? Online retailers spend a full 76% of paid search budget on Shopping Ads. Yet, studies have shown that nearly half that spend is wasted. One simple change may be all it takes to eliminate ad spend wastage in your Google Shopping campaigns. Join this sponsored webinar as Jeff Deutsch, Marketing Director at Longtail UX, shares how optimizing your landing page and improving online shopper experience from Google Shopping Ads can boost your conversions.

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